


The Period Palava

by TheIntelligentHufflepuff



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Confused Finn, Domestic Fluff, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, No Smut, Supportive Poe, a cheesy alliterated title, a dusting of angst, people without uteri supporting people with uteri, period pains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-11 05:46:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7878802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIntelligentHufflepuff/pseuds/TheIntelligentHufflepuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey, unfortunately, does not get to escape the 'joys' of menstruation on account of being a Jedi. Thankfully, her boyfriends can at least offer some comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Period Palava

**Author's Note:**

> If you are a person without a uterus, you may think I'm exaggerating about period pains. I'm not. They suck. 
> 
> Also, I gave up trying to think of something more spacey to call periods halfway through. Plus, I think that Finn would, after the fic, go off and research periods because he doesn't want to be ignorant. 
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes, I'm tired.

The base was as quiet as a paramilitary instillation can be, the darkness of Poe’s room wrapping around Rey like a blanket. Finn tangled his legs with hers, while Poe’s head rested on her shoulder. The situation would have been peaceful, had it not been for the cramps trying to rip Rey’s uterus to shreds. Her womb roiled sharply, while the muscles of her lower back twisted and clenched around her spine. Restlessness itched under her skin, and a creeping nausea prevented her from reaching sleep as her boyfriends had. 

Rey forced herself not to let out a growl of frustration. She hated menstruation with a burning passion. Not only was it an inconvenience- washing underwear over and over again got boring very fast- but on Jakku it was dangerous. Since she was twelve, menstruation had trapped her in a vicious cycle. Debilitating cramps and dizzy nausea hindered her ability to collect parts; because she hadn’t completed her tasks as efficiently as usual, she had less to offer and thus received fewer portions in return. If she hadn’t managed to stock up, having less portions meant that she ate less meals. Eating less meals didn’t exactly help to get rid of the fatigue that dogged her as a product of ejecting a womb lining and ovum, so she ended the week exhausted and sallow. Not to mention the fact that Rey hardly ever met any humans on Jakku, let alone those with uteri who could sympathise with her predicament. As a result, the first time Rey saw blood on her underwear she panicked, thinking she was about to die. 

Reminiscing over past awfulness should have passed the time well, Rey thought, but when she looked at the clock projected dimly on the wall it told her only five minutes had gone by. Suddenly Rey’s abdominal muscles spasmed, eliciting a low groan from her. Carefully, she curled on to her side facing Poe. He was very pretty. If she pondered his long eyelashes and square jaw enough it might distract her, right?

It didn’t, but the spasms eased off in her new position. Rey relaxed gradually, and was almost drifting off to sleep when an overwhelming wave of sickness forced her to flip over and start sucking in air through her nose, exhaling through her mouth. The nausea receded. The clock ticked on. The feeling of someone yanking on her fallopian tubes and scraping at the sides of her womb with their fingernails persisted. Rey stuck her leg up and waved it about a bit, stirring the cool air with her toes. It was a nice sensation- one that reminded her viscerally both that she was not on Jakku and that it wasn’t all a dream- but after a stretch of time elapsed she let her leg flop back down on to the bed. Unfortunately, Rey wasn’t really paying attention to where it was hovering. Her calf slammed in to Finn’s shin, jolting him awake. 

Finn bolted upright, halfway to springing to attention before Rey caught his arm. 

“Sorry!” she whispered. 

Finn slumped back down with a quiet yawn. He rolled on to his side to face Rey and asked “Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?” 

Rey shook her head “I haven’t been sleeping.” 

“But it’s the time to sleep!” Finn exclaimed. Rey felt a ping of spite towards the First Order for manipulating Finn in to such reliance on routine, even though she understood the necessity for it in the way that routine could prevent madness when all other areas of your life were void. 

“I can’t get to sleep because of the time of the month.” Rey explained, not quite meeting Finn’s eyes. Weakness can be exploited. The fact that she trusted Finn not to exploit her weakness wasn’t a relevant consideration to her survivor’s instinct. 

“What does that mean?” 

“It means Rey’s menstruating.” Poe explained groggily, roused either by the movement or the talking. 

“Oh.” Finn knew that expression, at least “Is it painful?” 

Rey glared at him before she could stop herself. Poe snorted in amusement. 

“So...it is painful?” Finn concluded uncertainly. 

“Yes.” Rey and Poe confirmed simultaneously. 

“How do you-” Rey began to ask, words cut off with a quiet cry of as a stabbing pain burst along her back. Squinting against the localised agony, Rey arched off the bed. A moment later, a warm hand appeared on Rey’s back and began rubbing firm circles across the taut muscle. After a while, the clenching of the muscles passed and the pain filtered away. Unfortunately, the tension in her back simply migrated upwards to take residence between her shoulder blades. The bed sprang upwards. Rey opened her eyes to see Finn heading in to the bathroom. 

Poe transferred his hand to Rey’s shoulder, saying pleasantly “I guess you were gonna ask how I know about periods?” Rey nodded. Poe’s thumb traced the lines of Rey’s shoulder blade through her pyjamas “When I was a kid we were told about them in school. Afterwards I asked every person with a uterus I knew about them, because it seemed like useful information. And it is.” 

Poe emphasised his point with a short, stubbly kiss pressed to Rey’s cheek. 

Smiling, Rey glanced towards the bathroom “The First Order didn’t agree.” 

Finn emerged from the bathroom carrying a bottle of painkillers and a heat pack “They told the people who had periods about them, I think. But the people who didn’t were only told that they existed.” the bed dipped down as Finn got back in, holding out the painkillers as an offering “If it’s painful, take these.” 

Rey nodded gratefully. Medical supplies were scarce on Jakku, so the prospect of using them to fend off something that wasn’t life threatening hadn’t even crossed her mind. Rey took the bottle from Finn and shook out two units. Thirty seconds after she had placed them against her gum, they liquefied and entered her bloodstream. Almost instantaneously, the sleep Rey had missed made itself known. Bonelessly tired, Rey melted in to the mattress. Poe and Finn followed suit, Finn laying the activated heat pack on Rey’s abdomen. Heart warming in tandem with the chemical pouch, Rey pulled her boyfriends near. Finn settled in as a comforting warmth against Rey’s back, Poe resting his forehead against Rey’s. One of Poe’s hands sifted through Rey’s hair, an action that tempted Rey to purr, while his other hand linked with Finn’s on her hip. 

“Thank you.” Rey mumbled “You make it less horrible.” 

“Anytime.” Poe promised warmly. 

“Yeah, we’ll help.” Finn concurred sleepily, dropping a lopsided kiss on the back of Rey’s neck. 

Eyes glistening, Rey drifted off in to a contented sleep.


End file.
